Operational Guidelines for Intensified National SARI Surveillance, 2011
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To strengthen basic surveillance and response capacities and integrate the epidemiological surveillance of influenza with laboratory surveillance into one system, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), developed a Generic Protocol for Influenza Surveillance, along with two operational guides designed primarily for local health teams in the PAHO Member States. The first operational guide was designed to help prepare health care facilities for unusual or unexpected cases or clusters of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), while the second was designed to systematize approaches to the implementation of sentinel surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI) and SARI. One important lesson learned from the 2009 influenza pandemic was the importance of obtaining information about severe cases. To that end, resources should be focused on expanding SARI surveillance. The purpose of this document is to provide a tool to support countries in implementing intensified SARI surveillance IHR, Alert and Response, and Epidemic Diseases Project |